Okay, so I'm sitting here with a Nikon D80 in my hands (which the current owner was nice enough to let me use for the night after a little money changed hands) and I'm thinking about buying it from him tomorrow. 2 year old camera, owned by professional photographer, but was normally sidelined in favor of his work's camera (another D80). In good condition, no scratches, rear screen protector always on. Can hardly tell that it's been used, TBH. Not sure of the shutter count, but I'll find out tonight when I have my card reader available. He's upgrading to a D300. Comes with one lens, retail box, everything. $650. Oh BT, what say you of my decision? Also, what say you of a good tele lens? Don't see myself needing anything more than 200mm, realistically.
Just got home, just over 17k shutter releases. Not too bad for 2 years in the hands of someone that does it for a living.
Just a fast comment before going to bed. A good camera for sure, but the price sounds too high. Check out other offerings before buying. 17k for a shutter isn't too bad, but again, check what you can get for that money. Might get a brand new camera... Just my 0.02$ Darkened
Yeah, I've been looking around, and it's a pretty decent deal with the lens. I've been looking at the D80, D90, and D200 as options, and just a body for any of them new is more than what I'm paying for this one, and it comes with a $300-something lens as well. It is either this or a D200 from Best Buy for 650, but then I immediately NEED to buy a lens (not that I wasn't planning on getting a few more, but I'd like to space it out a bit) and that's another $300+ on even a decent lens. Would I be happier with the D200? I'm going to be taking a few thousand pics per year easily, and in all conditions, but not as a source of income (that I'm planning on, at least)
I don't know a thing about Nikons (despite having just picked up two SB24s off craigslist!), but any camera body is a decision that's hard to give input on. If it's good for you ergonomically, that's very important - some bodies will just work better than others for some people, regardless of specs. Beyond that, just doing your research on price and the camera's reputation in terms of image quality and durability are the best thing to go on.
Spend the money, get the D200. The AF alone is worth the extra dough. The D80's WB and AF are.....crippled, at least that is the word that comes up most often. And stop reading Ken Rockwell's site. You lose all credibility. If you want a good Nikon equipment sight, read www.bythom.com or go to the dark side of www.fredmiranda.com. The information there is unbiased (as in they actually have had the equipment in hand and used it before writing about it) and well reasoned. Edit: if you are worried about the shutter life, then take a look at the D80 vs the D200.
Phew! Well okay then! It was just the top google hit when I was trying to link to the lens, so it was more out of laziness than anything else. I'd come to the conclusion last night that it wasn't the right camera me. There are just too many small things about it that I don't necessarily hate, I just don't like. I've already sent the owner an email informing him of my decision, so hopefully this will all get straightened out by the end of the day. On the plus side, I should have a good amount of money to play around with in about a week. I just put in 134.5 hours on this next paycheck (bi-monthly, so it was the last two weeks) and I've got another $500-odd coming from Uncle Sam as a tax rebate. D200, here I come!
